Celebrate everyday like it’s your birthday

“They say it’s your birthday, It’s my birthday too, yeah, They say it’s your birthday, We’re gonna have a good time, I’m glad it’s your birthday, Happy birthday to you” – The Beatles “Birthday”

Today is the celebration of my birth. I am pretty sure it is not a national holiday, at least not yet, but I will celebrate and go to work.

The celebration will be quiet. I will get a text from my children and my sisters, a card in the mail from my mother, one from my mother-in-law and my wife. I will text a friend of mine and wish him a Happy Birthday, he will respond with Happy Birthday wishes as well (we share the same birthday). I am feeling like Italian and we have a wonderful, small, hard to get in Northern Italian restaurant on Main St. I will try to get a reservation but I will need to come-up with a backup plan just in case.

That’s it, like I said very quiet. No fifty mile bicycle ride up a 3,200 foot mountain like I did on my 50th birthday, in the rain, in the sleet, all alone. Nope today I am thinking a glass, or two, of Merlot and Petto Di Anatra Ai Funghi E Marsala or it could be a bacon cheeseburger, with curly fries and a Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout. Either way I will be good and happy I am here to enjoy it.

I was thinking last night that we should celebrate everything and everyday. Wake-up, celebrate. Put two feet on the floor, celebrate. Inhale, exhale, celebrate. Have someone who loves us, celebrate. Have someone you love back, celebrate.

Everyday is blessing. I know that sounds like a Hallmark greeting card but the fact remains it is. Sure you might be dealing with some heavy shit. You may feel like you are hanging by your fingertips right now. But here is the thing, if the good stuff you are dealing with includes any combination of love, health, family, or friends, a warm place to sleep, or food on your table, you have reason to celebrate, not just today but everyday you get to be apart of this crazy adventure called living.

Enjoy the ride, celebrate each journey. We get one shot at it in this form, in this skin, with this heartbeat. Don’t waste it wishing you had a do over. Everyday that we get to inhale and exhale is a do over. Celebrate today, every moment, every chance you get just like it’s your birthday….. I’m glad it’s your birthday, Happy birthday to you!

“Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.” – Henri Nouwen